Slides in this set

Slide 1

Presentation on a Key Extract Chapter 6 and the Trinity of Wildean Art-Identity…read more

Slide 2

Introduction "Basil Hallward is what I think I am: Lord Henry what the world thinks me: Dorian what I would like to be -- in other ages, perhaps" (Wilde, Letters, 352)· Chapter 6 affords a rare opportunity to see all three characters interact as Dorian's engagement is announced· If we read the interactions between Dorian, Basil and Lord Henry as statements of Wilde's identity, the chapter is a window into how he understood art and creation: i.e. as a dialectic process of self-definition…read more

Slide 3

Topic 1: Identity is formed by rejection and association - dialecticBH: "Dorian engaged to be married [...] Impossible!" BH defines art via Dorian against Victorian normLHW: "I never approve, or disapprove, of anything now" LHW's dialectic is cast above normality ­ beyond good and evilTransition: "And unselfish people are colourless. They lack individuality" Wilde defines individuality as a process of accepting and rejecting norms, but LHW presented DG with an alternative amorality he rejects... for now.…read more

Slide 4

TOPIC 2: Dorian's Romanticism comes as a new form of identity formation which is set up to failDG: "Her hair clustered round her face like dark leaves around a pale rose" Roses are dangerous, prickly in Wilde's children's fiction -> FORESHADOWINGDG: "It seemed to me that all my life had been narrowed to one perfect point of rose-coloured joy" -> HYPERBOLIC METONYMY -> Set up to failTRANSITION: Dorian's infatuation sounds adolescent and naïve. The poetry is too simplistic so it is disingenuous - > Only complex identities work or survive for OW…read more

Slide 5

TOPIC 3: The death of the artist - BH BH: "A strange sense of loss came over him" -> BH's intuitions are always right in this novel. DG has sinned against his true self and they will all pay BH: "His eyes darkened, and the crowded, flaring streets became blurred to his eyes" -> artist is losing his vision -> metaphorical deathBH's artistic death through the loss of Dorian's genuine, uncompromised self is the next level of tragedy to hit this story. He is dead before he literally dies by Dorian's hand…read more

Slide 6

CONCLUSIONJust like in Mary Shelley's novel, the fairytale moment does not preclude a form of reality in the writing process. While Dorian's picture is magical, the process of dividing artistic selves into this triangle has allowed Wilde to present us with a very real picture of how writing generates and kills artistic selves. With the birth or death of a character, the author lives, breathes and dies, and shares these experiences with a reader whose own identity morphs and evolves.We all have a Dorian, a Basil and a Lord Henry, but in some ages, one has to kill the others.…read more